You name it, Goshen’s styrofoam sculptor can make it

GOSHEN, Ala. (WSFA) - Jeff Ryan is a creator. He started Blockwire Manufacturing in 2004 in Goshen. They started out using styrofoam to make crown molding and monument signs. But when the housing market crashed in 2008 he had to get creative.

“So we thought if we put something on the front of the sign that popped out a little bit, they would be more noticed. So we started doing 3D things with this router,” said Ryan.

It was such a new concept, he didn’t really have a name for it.

“I don’t know if there’s enough of us doing this to call it anything. 3D foam sculpting, that’s what sums it up for us,” Ryan said”

You name it, he can make it. It starts with the packing supply we all know about and ends up as art.

“A lot of people don’t want to deal with it,” Ryan said. “A lot of customers don’t want to deal with the bulk and the mess. It goes everywhere like you said, right? It takes specialized equipment to do it. We use a hot wire, a titanium alloy wire that heats up with electricity. We run it through a computer and cut out whatever you want us to cut.”

The first thing they need to do is agree with the client on a picture. Then the pieces are cut, glued together, treated with a hard plastic coating, and painted. They do business all over the world.

“We send stuff to Australia and Germany,” Ryan added.

It could be a car wash mascot, a sign outside New England Patriots stadium, or part of a restaurant sign for a water park in South Alabama.

“This is a pig with Bahama shorts, a straw hat, and sunglasses,” Ryan said.